DIY "Sew in Love" Favor Bag

Did you wake up early this morning to watch the Royal Wedding?! I am writing this a day in advance, but I really just want to see the dress, and will watch the recaps later in the day. But in honor of the wedding–that is, in honor of love today–I'm posting this great favor bag tutorial from The Sweetest Occasion. They provide the "Sew in Love" heart printable to transfer onto the bags–making these bags SEW easy to make! Use this for a wedding or even a "tying the knot" themed shower.

Visit The Sweetest Occasion for the printable and directions.

DIY Gift Cones

If you're hosting a brunch this Mother's Day or even a bridal shower, and want to keep favor costs down, this is a great option. Made with scrapbook paper and embellishments, these pretty cones are great to hold chocolate almonds, bath salts or small trinkets. Hang them from a small tree where guests can grab one on their way out. Or, print each guest's name on them, and hang one on each chair so it serves double duty–placecard and favor.

Find the full details at Homespun With Love.

DIY Fringe Chandelier

Is there a fringe frenzy going on lately? I've been seeing fringe garlands, fringe eggs for Easter, fringe tablecloths. Whatever it is–I love it! I love fringe. It just speaks PAR-TAY.

I spotted this fun fringe chandelier on Divine Party Concepts and just needed to share! It would look really cool with an ombre effect. It's perfect for a party, and I can even see it hanging in a patio/sunroom.

Find the DIY directions from Lauren Elise at The Knotty Bride.

Mimosa Bar w/Free Printables

Mimosas have definitely become a customary drink at brunches–and why not? They are simple to make, delicious and bubbly goes with everything!

I love this colorful setup from The Party Dress. They added vibrant color with different choices of fruit juices and garnishes, around a matching floral centerpiece. You can easily create this look for your Mother's Day or shower brunch. And The Party Dress helps you out by providing those colorful tags you see on the juice bottles for free! Visit The Party Dress for more info on this and a link to the printable download.

Merry Monday: Garden Party

Hope you had a wonderful Easter yesterday! I, for one, ate way too much candy! I always try to prevent the kids from eating too much, but then have a hard time limiting myself. ugh.

Since Easter was so late this year, we haven't spent enough time thinking about Mother's Day! That will be here before you know it. When I saw this lovely Pink & Yellow Garden Party from Dreamers Joy Events & Design on Pizzazzerie, I thought this couldn't be more perfect for Mother's Day–especially for a mom that loves to garden! Don't you love the use of the terra cotta pots–especially using the small ones to hold the cones? So clever. The small watering cans and galvanized pots bring a nice shine to the overall decor, and there is definitely something about the crocheted flowers that say "mom."

Check out the original post on Pizzazzerie here. And you can visit Dreamers Joy Events & Design on Facebook here. (Their actual site is still under development.) More for Mother's Day during the week!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from the little bunnies at Home Confetti! (On the left is Renee and on the right is Siena) Taken at an Easter Egg Hunt last year :) This year we're fortunate to be spending Easter with family in New York. Hope you are having a blessed holiday.

Best,
RoseMarie

Recyled Spiral Hanging Decor

In honor of Earth Day today, thought I'd spotlight this recycled glittery hanging party decoration. Made from plastic bottles, you can use it for a New Year's party or even 4th of July. Or just swap the glittery color or star for another fun shape for a different themed party.

There's nothing better than saving money making your own decor, while also doing the planet some good. Visit Kids Birthday Party Ideas for the tutorial.

Funny Bunny on a Stick

I often get asked where I find a lot of the cute ideas I feature. It's not a huge secret, but it does require some patience. Each morning I scour "Link Parties" that are going on throughout blogland. I try to visit at least 5. Link Parties are regularly hosted by different bloggers every day. It is an opportunity for you to showcase (i.e. link up) a craft, recipe or party you recently worked on. So it's a great (and quick!) way to find blogs you might not otherwise stumble upon. And if you're a blogger, it's a great way to reach new followers by posting your own idea. The Link Party might have a specific theme or it could be just a "free for all." I found this adorable bunny on a stick on the Tasty Tuesday Link Party hosted by 33 Shades of Green. (make sure to scroll down to see all the submissions) It totally put a smile on my face when I saw it! This is such a fun treat, and can double as a photo prop! Find the complete how-to at Munchkin Munchies.

DIY Doily Mobile

You must know by now that I have a thing for doilies! They're feminine, romantic and oh-so versatile. I love this new spin (pun intended) on a springy mobile using fabric on doilies. I'm sure you can find a way to use glue and scrapbook paper, too. Use it for a little girl's party, shabby chic, or garden party. My family might be seeing this over our Mother's Day brunch table. Just match the paper or fabric to your theme.

Originally featured on Tatertots & Jello, get the how-to here.

DIY Clay Eggs

These little lovelies would be charming on any Easter table. But how perfect would they be as favors for a nature or bird-themed party?? So easy to make, using clay over tin foil! The Rachel Berry Blog provides a great step-by-step tutorial with tips. And I love her choice of a Peat Moss Pot to set the eggs in. Use words like "LUCK" to send your guests home with warm wishes.

Merry Monday: FLY GUY Party

Maybe it's because my girls are still in preschool, but I have to admit I had never heard of the Fly Guy book series by Tedd Arnold before I got a sneek peak of this party that Kristy of The Purple Pug was working on for her son's 6 year birthday party. Without any real inspiration out there, besides the books, to go on, I was wondering what kind of a spin Kristy was going to put on this theme. But leave it up to Kristy, a DIY maven, to come up with genius ways to turn this little character into a full, colorful theme for her little guy! The subtle touches she added were perfect, without going way over the top. And if you don't know, Kristy is known for her glittery expertise, and you'll see why! I need to find out how she gets her glitter so perfect! Enjoy these photos, and best of all, it looked like her son had a great time!

Great focal point at the party: banner made of felt, rick-rack, pom-poms and ribbon.

A "treats and trinkets" table where the kids could fill up their own buckets of goodies to take home. Colorful favors add to the table's decor. Note the fab handmade banner!

You see what I mean about the perfect glittered lettering?!

How do you make bland flies colorful, fun and chic?? Like THIS!

Kristy used cellophane on the centerpieces and over these lollipops to emulate the shine on a fly's wings--brilliant!

Tie-dyed coffee filters around Carvel ice cream cups!

There is still so much more to see from this party: fun activities, Kandy Kones, hats, custom cookies and even favors for the mamas! Make sure to buzz on over to Kristy's blog, The Purple Pug, to see the rest!

Post-Race Food Celebration

May seems to be the month that kicks off the season of 5ks, marathons, triathlons and charity events. I really admire those who are disciplined ough to train for one of those events! It's a pretty big accomplishment! If you know someone who will be participating in such an event, what better way to celebrate their personal accomplishment than to welcome them home with a healthy buffet! Here are a few table design and food ideas to make it really special.

This was a memorable feature on Amy Atlas' Sweet Designs Blog. This beautifully designed table features a brussel sprouts garland and artichoke arrangement. Yogurt parfait shots and watermelon salad are just a couple of the goodies included.

Or what about this simple, yet elegant "bagel bar" by Luna and Chloe Weddings? Bagels can be so satisfying after a race! You can have a lot of fun by offering different choices of marmalades and jams to go along with the bagels.

Decorate a colorful table to reflect the spring or summer season, like this one at Save the Date for Cupcakes. Adorn glasses with flags that say "Celebrate" "Congrats" or "Winner!" If you're serving yogurt or parfaits, make sure to have a number of self-serve toppings on hand. It's always fun for guests to make up their own food.

Or if you just want to offer your racer a small pick-me-up, how about one of these cute veggie snacks? On left is a "veggie patch" from Homespun With Love. On the right are springy vegetable bouquets from Living Locurto.

Best of luck to anyone participating in a race–especially if it's tied to a good cause!

Craft Test: Easter Egg Tea Cups

How absolutely charming are these tea cups made from plastic Easter eggs on buttons?! I discovered this sweet blog yesterday called Creativity in progress. I featured her tea cup carousel on my Facebook page yesterday--but was so smitten with the little tea cups she created. So smart and totally cute! Together like this, the tea cups make such a great display for a tea party, girl's room or just playing tea.

Finding this project was great timing for me! We didn't have the greatest weather yesterday, and I actually had everything on hand to make these with my girls, so we tried it. We used jewels, glitter glue and Sharpies to decorate our tea cups. If you use something like the jewels, make sure to glue them all the way around, otherwise your tea cup will fall over if the weight isn't even all the way around.

Renee and Siena did a pretty good job, don't you think?! You can barely tell which are the ones I made. ha! They really enjoyed making these. This is a great little party or rain day activity.

Find the original how-to for these darling Easter egg tea cups here at Creativity in progress.

Rainbow Cake in a Jar

Any adult or kid will be WOW'd by this dazzling layered dessert! Line up a bunch of them to really add to the decor and color of your party table. Perfect for a Wizard of Oz, rainbow party or spring garden party–there will be many smiling faces at the end of this rainbow!

Find the how-to for this Rainbow Cake in a Jar at Babble.com.

DIY Chiffon and Twine Napkin Rings

These napkin rings speak fabulous! I LOVE the combination of the beautiful, soft chiffon material with the rustic twine. The chiffon makes them elegant enough for special occasions and because they were made with PVC piping (43 cents per piece!) they are affordable enough to make for larger parties. Perfect for party DIYers!

Created by Jessica of Two Shades of Pink. I also love how she used different buttons in the centers to make each one unique. Find Jessica's tutorial on her blog. If you need a tutorial for the actual chiffon flower, refer to her flower corsage tutorial here.

Merry Monday: Easter Brunch w/Free Printables

I was completely smitten with the details in this Easter Brunch, styled by CHS Creative Productions, featuring printables by Paper & Pigtails. I love the crocheted placemats, the large fabric bunting over the centerpiece, the chair ribbons and even the diamond patterned table covering--which reminds me of something you could also use for an Alice in Wonderland theme. (Ah-the wheels keep turning!) And the food items are cute, too–check out the "Bunny Tails"! Carolyn of CHS Creative Productions is definitely not short on ideas! And Kori of Paper & Pigtails really helped to enhance this adorable brunch setup with her festive printables. If you want to bring some of this springy inspiration into your own home this Easter, Paper & Pigtails is providing the printables FREE right here! To see more photos from this Easter Brunch shoot, please visit CHS Creative Productions and Paper & Pigtails.

Heaps of Peeps!

The "peeps" have invaded our home! It's inevitable that every year we end up with dozens of these uneaten marshmallow critters. So, this year, instead of trying to use them as dinner bribes, I'll be using them as part of our Easter decor. Here's a roundup of cute ideas to help use up all those Peeps in your home. Make sure to click on the links for the how-to info.

EASTER TABLE DECOR:

• Peeps in egg cups from Delish.com
• Peeps straws from The Autocrat

PEEPS CENTERPIECES:

• Peeps in glass vase from Mix, Mingle, Glow
• Peeps in grass from Gather and Nest
• Peeps topiary from Nat Mack's Knick Knacks

PEEPS WREATHS:

• Colorful Peep Wreath from Tried & True
• Yellow Peep Wreath from Mommy Savers

PEEPS GIFTS:

• Free snack bag printable "Happy Easter to one of my favorite PEEPS" from eighteen25
• Easter smores bag topper from pitty pat paperie

SCENE STEALER! Just had to include this when I saw it! ha!

Photo Source

DIY Burlap Lace Vase

Do you read The CSI Project? If not, I really encourage you to become a follower. CSI stands for "create something inspiring" and that's exactly what the site does. Each week they introduce a new project challenge with a theme. One week was a "$5 Challenge" in which I submitted my DIY Baby Favor; last week was the "Pillow Challenge" and this week is "Burlap." It's really inspiring to see what everyone comes up with! Since I don't own a sewing machine, I stayed away from the Pillow Challenge, but I thought I could do something simple enough to submit for the Burlap challenge. What do you think of my burlap vase? Springy? It's definitely easy!

What I Used:

• Cylinder vase (mine is 3 1/2" in diameter)
• Acrylic Paint and foam brush
• (Optional) Buttons or other embellishment
• Lace
• Stencils (I found mine at Dollar Tree)
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors

What I Did:

• Measure your vase's circumference. Then, estimate how high you want your burlap. I made mine 4 1/2" high. Cut out your strip of burlap.
• Using your foam brush, blot the stencil with the paint until it's well-covered. Then, continue with your pattern throughout the burlap strip. I alternated between large and small flowers. (Process shown below.) Set aside to dry. Once it's dry, apply your embellishments.

• Cut out two pieces of trim lace to fit around your vase. Using double-sided tape, affix the lace to the vase.
• Then, apply the finished burlap over the lace. The double-sided tape I used has managed to hold the burlap as well. However, I'm wondering how long it will continue to hold.
• Enjoy with some flowers!

I want to try to make another one of these, but using white paint with embellishments in the middle of the flowers. The variations are endless!

View the CSI Project Burlap Challenge here.

Also Linking To:

Frugal Friday

Show and Tell Friday

Feature Yourself Friday

Free For All Friday

Friday Favorites

Friday Flair Link Party

Frugalicious Friday

Craft Catwalk

Serve Cookies as Ice Cream

Nicole of Tradewind Tiaras put together an amazing April Fool's Day party that I featured on Home Confetti's Facebook page. One of the items on her dessert table that really fooled me were these ice cream cones–that are really sugar cookies! It's amazing how she got the texture and color to really look like ice cream.

If you're throwing a party this summer, you need to have this. It's better than ice cream since it won't melt! Find out how Nicole at Tradewind Tiaras created these super realistic ice cream cones here.

DIY Ornament Mobile

You gotta love Dollar Store Crafts! Inexpensive, yet they somehow manage to look much more than a few bucks!

Here's a mobile craft that would make a great focal point for a whimsical girl's party, garden party or shower. I love it, because even though it's made with Christmas ornaments, nothing about it speaks Christmas--just fun. You can use so many items for the ornament fillers: feathers, beads, ribbon, etc. Find the original post about how this was done at the Dollar Store Crafts website.

Merry Monday: Baseball Themed Wedding

With the start of the official baseball season last week, I was planning on posting a baseball themed birthday party today. But in my search, I came across this great baseball themed wedding on Style Me Pretty, styled by Amorology Weddings and photographed by Schnack Studios. What a home run! If you know a big baseball fan hitting a milestone birthday and want a more sophisticated look for the party, you'll find lots of great ideas here: vendor trays full of baseball chocolates and Cracker Jack; a batting photo booth; baseball ticket placecards and "Batter Batter" (pancake batter!) favors... I even love the "What a Catch!" idea for a bridal shower or bachelorette party. Really fun and well-executed! Find the post with more photos at Style Me Pretty here.

Nest in a Minute

We're spending Easter at my parents this year, who live in New York. So, I'm thinking of ways to add small decorative touches to jazz up the table a bit for the holiday. My challenge is thinking of ways to do it using items my mom already has around the house.

I'm starting with small, colorful nests, that could be lined up down the center of the table or at each place setting. I've seen faux nests made from scrunched up craft moss, but I want a small nest with some structure so I can actually use it, and safely move it around. Remember this DIY Spring Wreath I posted? The Fun Fur is perfect to use for a bird's nest. So, I ended up with the above nest, using only three items: double-sided tape, a mini glass bowl (I know my mom has a few of these!) and the Fun Fur, that I purchased on sale of Jo-Ann's for $2.49.

All I did was wrap the inside and outside of the small glass bowl with double-sided tape, and then wrapped the Fun Fur on top of it. Voila! Instant bird nest! I didn't realize how thin/stringy Fun Fur is, so it took more Fur than expected. But I'm happy with the results, and the bowl provides a sturdy base, making the nest actually functional.

Hope you can find a place for this quick, easy Easter nest on your table!